Author: Paul Kelly

Graduating university with a degree in chemistry, Mark quickly realised that a career in “blowing things up” was not for him.  Joining Metro in 1996, almost two and a half decades ago, Mark elicits his versatility through working across a wide variety of departments in the business, r... Read more

It’s fair to say that Brexit has been a prolonged procedure, generating significant jargon to describe engaged concepts and mechanisms that will be critical components for trading with the EU after the 1st January 2021. We review some of the most important Brexit abbreviations for traders an... Read more

New EU border controls come into force on the 1st January 2021 and while there will be ‘light-touch’ control for most imports initially, there will be significant impact on the unprepared and exporters will need to observe strict new export processes from the start, or their goods will not mo... Read more

Metro has designed a range of Customs solutions to protect your supply chain from the impact of Brexit. Maintaining efficient import and export operations, while keeping you Customs compliant and maximising the cashflow benefits of HMRC’s ‘light-touch’ regimes. Metro’s resources, skill... Read more

Forth Ports and DP World will submit a joint freeport bid incorporating the Port of Tilbury and DP World London Gateway, to create a digitally connected multi-site free trade zone, that will focus on clean growth, while seeking to act as an innovation hub across a range of sectors. The compani... Read more

The trade press continue to report that trans-Atlantic demand is reduced by the pandemic and that carriers are adding to blanking programmes, while we have evidence of shipping lines refusing bookings due to lack of space. While blanked sailings have been reinstated on the transpacific and ext... Read more

The essential ingredient for many industries, chemicals are part of nearly every product used in the home and office. There is no room for error in logistics for the chemical and petro-chemical sector, which is a key vertical for Metro, in the care of Steve Smith. Joining Metro in 2003, Steve ... Read more

Driven by demand surges and equipment shortages contributing to capacity constraints, container freight rates are rising to 2020 highs as carriers on the eastbound trans-Pacific implement the fourth GRI since the 1st June. Anticipating a continuation of weak demand, carriers blanked 63 sailing... Read more

The end of the Transition Period with the European Union on 31st December 2020 provides the UK with the opportunity to design a future border that will deliver maximum benefit to the UK and new border processes that will need to be understood, if supply chains are to continue to run. On the 22... Read more

Operation Brock is set to return, as part of plans to cope with potential queues at Channel Ports, as the government questions hauliers’ readiness for Brexit Operation Brock is the planned traffic management system in Kent for use in the event of a no-deal Brexit. It supersedes Operation Sta... Read more

Environmental strategies and carbon emission reduction activities have been core elements in multi-national trading reports for some years and more shippers are beginning to realise that they can adapt their supply chain to be environmentally friendly and save money in the process. Cutting emi... Read more

We are receiving news that container shipping lines have begun diverting from the Port of Montreal as a series of strikes disrupt container handling for another week at Canada’s second-largest port.  Hapag-Lloyd has confirmed that the Detroit Express will call at the Port of Saint John ... Read more